Former Bristol City midfielder Gary Owers left the manager's hotseat at Bath City this week to take up the reins at Torquay United on Wednesday.

The change of job came as a surprise to many given that Bath are only three points off the top of the National League South, but the allure of working with the Devonshire side was too great.

And 48-year-old kindly spoke to the Bristol Post about an exciting new challenge, the already in-situ Bristol City talent George Dowling and possibly bringing in other City starlets later in the year, if it proves beneficial for all parties.

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"Well, it's a great opportunity on a personal level. It's obviously a club that's been in the football league and has fallen on tough times, if you like, and going there with the possibility of trying to turn their fortunes around.

Bath City boss Gary Owers (Image: Simon Howe)

"It was very hard to walk away from Bath - we worked very hard on that project for a couple of seasons. Three points off the top of the table, in a good position, with a very good squad and playing well, it was a hard one.

"But I've made the plunge and I'm going to get stuck into this one now," Owers told the Post .

Gary Owers, when he was at Bristol City

On the Torquay job, Owers explained that the first task was just to get three points.

"The obvious first target is to try and win. They've had 10 attempts and haven't won a game yet so that tells a story. There's something wrong and we've got to try and find out what the problem is very, very quickly.

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"We've just got to work with the players over a period of time and try and make them better and try and improve the structure of the team. Short term: we just need to try and get some results on the board."

George Dowling, left (Image: Gary Day/JMP)

One City player who might have a large part to play in this could be on-loan midfielder George Dowling, who scored on his debut down at the Gulls.

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Owers saw him play this week and is aware of the Robins starlet's talents. And he hopes that there might be some more young talents to head south in the future.

"Yeah, I went to watch George the other night - he's been down here three games and done very well. I've got a good relationship with Bristol City and I've got a good relationship with Brian Tinnion who is in charge of the loan players, and I'm sure it'll be something we develop further down the line."